Sleep apnoea, stopping breathing and big tonsils

[MiniMousse]

Hello
My dd is 5 and i think she keeps stopping breathing at night, but not totally sure. she snores like a steam train, then goes silent, although her chest is moving up and down (really looks like she's straining to breathe) but whilst this is happening, no air comes in or out of her nose and mouth. She then does a snort after a few seconds and then breathes again, this happens over and over and over...

Seems to be worse in winter. Her tonsils are huge and she has history of tonsillitis, glue ear, burst eardrums etc etc. last yr she saw a consultant about sleep apnoea and poss tonsillectomy, but he said as she's really tall 99th centile, he didn't think it was affecting her. I can't help but think it is affecting her, her sleep is appalling, constant night waking etc etc.

Does anyone relate to this? And has anyone had a child with 'winter' apnoea, ad it seems so much worse this time of yr?

Hi. My ds was three when we pushed for him to have grommets in and adenoids and tonsils out.
We used to be able to hear his snoring downstairs with the doors shut. Also his breathing would cut out which was quite scary. Anyway, had the op and was eating crisps the next day!! I agree keep up with the pain relief and just let them do what they need to do to get over it. Good luck

The second night post op I spent in with dd (actually, shared her room for a week to make nighttime medication easier and because I wanted to keep an eye on her) I suddenly realised that she wasn't snoring anymore! I think I actually checked to make sure she was still breathing.

Hi Minimouse, another one here adding to the previous posters who have said how life changing the op is.
DS had awful apnoea, some nights it would go on for hours and hours. He was always shattered, big dark bags under his eyes and would wake up grumpy.
He was very prone to croup, severe enough to need urgent hospital treatment several times.
Since the op, since the very first night, he has slept silently. It's eery! At our hospital it's an automatic overnight stay for any child with apnoea. We weren't told that till we arrived. But I was glad he was hooked up to a monitor as he was so quiet in his sleep.
Post-op, I expected the worst and was really pleasantly surprised. Apart from the first 20 hours or so, when DS would literally not let me put him down (he had to come to the loo with me, everything)it was actually all ok.
I set my alarm to wake up twice in the night, to keep medicating him round the clock (for about 7 days) and I think that helped.
Also, as previously mentioned, a humidifer - that helped a lot.
DS seemed to eat ok very quickly. I asked him on day 3 or so if he had any pain. He said yes and pointed to a tiny sore on his arm. That was reassuring!
It is worrying, having a small child in hospital for an op (DS was 3 at the time,nearly 4) but repeat to yourself 'it is just a procedure' and believe it. It's over and done with in under an hour.
Look forward to knowing your DD will sleep soundly and safely very soon.

Thanks all. We had yet another disrupted night last night, and this morning dd woke up, touched her throat and said 'I think my tonsils are like big lumps, they make it hard for me to lie down' she then sat up and propped herself in a sitting position on the pillows, and said 'that's better my throat feels opener now'
I think this is the final nudge I needed to tell myself this really is necessary surgery. I've been second guessing myself and thinking well, maybe when she gets a bi bigger, or it's not winter, or she's not fighting off a bug, or or or... But seeing what dd did and said this morning said it all I think.

Well done your dd, Mini very articulate!

I second the humidifier tip. It was the only thing that got us and dd2 through the first two years (but we never needed it again after the op)!

In reviewing comments, the information provided about obstructive sleep apnea patients and positional therapy needs updating. As a courtesy, we have provided a link to a review of the scientific literature pertaining to a new type of positional therapy called “vibro-tactile positional therapy”:

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